TeK9,Wow I am amazed how info you have gathered from the videos. I think you should start hitting some seminars and impress the instructors. They will probably give extra info.

I do Indonesian Stick fighting and I learned a bit of the Abrescy System of Eskrima.

I agree padded training has some adavantages but one must keep in mind that in a real fight defanging can be easily done and it can cause serious damage to the extremity.We spar with a wooden or aluminum knife, no padding. When you get hit on the fingers or stabb it hurts a lot and we are aware that a real knife will cut your finger or a ligament at least. In the body will cause some serious injury and there is no point of tackling the other guy when there is a rain of stabs comnig to you from all angles.Training with a stick one must keep in mind that no matter how high your pain tolerance is a broken finger or knee cap will keep you from going or a broken wrist so keep that in mind when sparring with sticks. I think the guys from SAyoc produce some type of gloves that are better than the hockey ones. At least they seem thinner than the hockey ones.